workaround

Welcome to Minnesota: A Conversation about Immigration and Human Rights

May

26

workaround

Sarah M. Rattanavong-Wash

About me

Sarah M. Rattanavong-Wash (sarah_m_wash@hotmail.com) is a local writer and editor who's interested in all things artistic, cultural, and political.

Column:

smrwash

Tags:

workaround

MN VOICES | Amy Rice, making art in the heart of Northeast Minneapolis

By Sarah Rattanavong-Wash, TC Daily Planet

At Art-a-Whirl, one studio you can’t miss is the one belonging to Amy Rice. She’s a Minneapolis-based artist whose star is just beginning to rise on the national scene. Her work has been shown in a diverse array of settings at home and abroad, from Palmer’s Bar on the West Bank to the Carmichael Gallery in London. Critics have praised her style—which makes use of spray paint stenciling and pastel palettes to create a fragile world of women and children in natural settings—calling it a mix of “cute” and “quirk” and comparing her work to that of another artist she’s exhibited with—Banksy.MORE »

MUSIC | Duran Duran spark fevered dreams of dancing angels at Epic

By Sarah Rattanavong-Wash, TC Daily Planet

It wasn't the usual clubland crowd that queued halfway down the block in front of Epic last Friday night. Mostly in their 30s and 40s, wearing jeans and sweaters, these clubgoers had gathered to see the band so many of today's 20-something artists cite as one of their most important influences: Duran Duran.MORE »

Nickel and diming disabled Minnesotans: Saving pennies, risking lives

By Sarah Rattanavong-Wash, TC Daily Planet

Cindy and Greg Johnson live on the second floor of a lovely, modest home in Woodbury. Their daughter Jenna lives in an apartment on the first floor. She is a bright-eyed, socially active 27-year-old who works at Target. She has cute pink Crocs and a little white dog named Angel.MORE »

Dayton signs HMO accountability order…but is it too early to celebrate?

By Sarah Rattanavong-Wash, TC Daily Planet

On March 23, Governor Mark Dayton announced a series of major reforms to Minnesota's managed care program. The move is designed to increase accountability and cost-savings for one of the state's biggest expenditures, without making cuts in services, by taking a long-overdue look inside the HMOs' black box.
MORE »

David Hyde Pierce at the Guthrie Theater: From Chekhov to "Frasier"

By Sarah Rattanavong-Wash, TC Daily Planet

I've got a secret: I love Frasier. Insanely. Over-the-top. Hence my embarrassingly enthusiastic response to the opportunity to cover David Hyde Pierce's appearance at the Guthrie Theater on March 13 as part of the Guthrie's In Conversation with Joe Dowling series.MORE »

Minnesota Medical Assistance: Managed care vs. fee-for-service

By Sarah Rattanavong-Wash, TC Daily Planet

Public payment for health care in Minnesota is a complicated and difficult issue. One crucial question is the difference between managed care and fee-for-service care. Which system-fee-for-service or managed care-provides better care? Which allows greater individual voice in choosing care and providers? Which costs less?MORE »

UCare gives back $30 million, but questions on HMO profits from public payments remain

By Sarah Rattanavong-Wash, TC Daily Planet

UCare's March 16 announcement that it will give back $30 million to the State of Minnesota came amid mounting criticsm of state payments to HMOs. Why the payback?

It's "the right thing to do," said UCare president Nancy Feldman. Governor Mark Dayton called on other HMOs to follow UCare's lead. Critics of HMO contracts with the state said it was not enough.MORE »

MUSIC | Lords of Acid at Ground Zero: Legends of underground techno rip it up

By Sarah Rattanavong-Wash, TC Daily Planet

With all the mainstream attention electronic music is getting these days, it was exciting to see Lords of Acid, legends of underground techno, play Ground Zero last Saturday night—allowing a younger generation to see that one needn't jump out of an egg to put on a fantastic show.MORE »

MUSIC | DJ Jake Rudh on ten years of Transmission: "I will definitely give the fans what they want"

By Sarah Rattanavong-Wash, TC Daily Planet

Local fans of post-punk, Britpop, and New Wave should be well acquainted by now with the name Jake Rudh—or at least with his weekly event Transmission, currently hosted on Wednesdays at Clubhouse Jäger, a Teutonic yet cosmopolitan club in the Warehouse District of Minneapolis. There, Rudh spins an eclectic and always interesting mix of quality music, featuring theme nights once a month.MORE »

Libya solidarity rally at the Minnesota State Capitol

By Sarah Rattanavong-Wash, TC Daily Planet

At three o'clock last Friday, about 50 protesters of Middle Eastern descent, ranging in age from twenty-somethings to people in their sixties, many of them from Libya, gathered in the 12 degree weather outside the Minnesota State Capitol to demand that the United States take "immediate, enforceable action" against the state repression and mass murder of pro-democracy activists in Libya.MORE »